Riverbird Clinic

Riverbird Clinic is a ketamine-assisted therapy clinic in Portland, Maine, set up in 2019 as, by its own account, the state’s first psychedelic therapy clinic. It offers individual, group, couples and end-of-life ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT) from the Good Medicine Collective building in Portland’s West End.

Approach

Sessions pair ketamine with talk therapy, somatic work and mindfulness, with integration throughout. A course usually has two to six medicine sessions over weeks or months, after an intake and at least one preparation session. Ketamine is taken orally or by intramuscular injection, not by IV. The team of licensed providers includes medical director and co-owner Selma Holden, MD, co-owner Shauna Sedler, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, therapist Libbet Cone, LCSW, with more than 40 years of practice, and family physician Matthew Stevens, DO. Several have MAPS training in MDMA therapy.

Who it is for

Most clients come with treatment-resistant depression or anxiety, and PTSD, substance use, eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder are considered case by case. It works mainly with adults over 25, sometimes with people aged 18 to 25. Group KAT is suggested especially for chronic depression, anxiety or isolation.

Practical details

A typical individual course costs $2,425 to $5,925. The two-hour intake and medical assessment costs $475, a preparation session $200, and a three-hour ketamine session with a 50-minute integration session $875 with one provider or $1,115 with two. Insurance is not accepted, but a superbill is available and an Equitable Access Fund lowers costs for those facing financial barriers.

Care and safety

Screening starts with intake paperwork and a free phone call, followed by an in-person consultation that includes a medical check by a doctor or nurse practitioner; the consultation does not mean treatment will follow. Plans are agreed with the client and their own therapist.